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BeyondBlue Hello! Read this if you're not sure how to get started
  • replies: 0

Welcome This section of the Beyond Blue Forums is for talking about our experiences with depression. There are lots of chats about how it makes us feel, what it’s like to live with depression and what has worked to help in these times. Thank you for ... View more

Welcome This section of the Beyond Blue Forums is for talking about our experiences with depression. There are lots of chats about how it makes us feel, what it’s like to live with depression and what has worked to help in these times. Thank you for coming this far, we know it can be really hard to take these steps if depression is in your life - we see you and think this is a great step. To get the most out of this space we have a few tips: Get involved. The Forums work best for you when you get active and post where you can. Now, we know that can be really hard, especially when you are experiencing depression. So, if you can post something supportive to someone else here, that would be an incredible start. Speak from the heart. This community wants to know how YOU feel and what has worked for YOU. We trust that you have something unique to say and we can’t wait to hear it. Check in. Lots of the discussions in this section of the Forums have been going for years and they are some of the richest conversations we have. Keep checking in to get new ideas and offer your support. We know it can be tough to start, but when you are ready we want to hear your thoughts. If you need some time to get to know the community, that's okay! Have a look around and see where you want to get involved. Thank you for being here! Beyond Blue

Jeriava How do I talk to my doctor?
  • replies: 9

I’ve been struggling with my life for the past 7-8 years but I finally made an appointment with a doctor. I feel really scared though because I don’t ever go to the doctor for anything, and I havent seen this doctor for so many years that I’m really ... View more

I’ve been struggling with my life for the past 7-8 years but I finally made an appointment with a doctor. I feel really scared though because I don’t ever go to the doctor for anything, and I havent seen this doctor for so many years that I’m really scared that they’ll judge me or won’t believe anything I say. I’m really anti social so I feel like I won’t be able to say what I wanna say or I’ll say the wrong thing causing them to just dismiss me and move me along without helping. I’m just tired of feeling alone, depressed and just worthless but I’m really scared to talk to them.

AGrace SELF HELP TIPS FOR MANAGING DEPRESSION
  • replies: 132

Hi Everyone, Here are some ideas you might like to try for managing symptoms of depression. Of course everyone's different, so let us know what works for you, and please feel free to add to the list... Mindfulness – through breathing or engaging the ... View more

Hi Everyone, Here are some ideas you might like to try for managing symptoms of depression. Of course everyone's different, so let us know what works for you, and please feel free to add to the list... Mindfulness – through breathing or engaging the 5 senses Distress Tolerance – Accepting Emotions and Self Soothing Distraction – Put the thoughts/feelings aside and come back to them when you are ready to deal with them Positive Affirmations – Have some affirmations written down repeat them to yourself daily Sleep/Exercise/Diet – All 3 aspects of our lifestyle can impact the way we think/feel Increasing Pleasurable Activities – Engage in at least one pleasurable activity per day

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Esc ONE BAD DECISION AFTER ANOTHER
  • replies: 5

I have been struggling with negatives thoughts. My facade appears approachable and amiable, my persona strong, and I am never without a smile in public. A people pleaser and generous to a fault. A lie I've lived with for years, because I felt that's ... View more

I have been struggling with negatives thoughts. My facade appears approachable and amiable, my persona strong, and I am never without a smile in public. A people pleaser and generous to a fault. A lie I've lived with for years, because I felt that's not who I really am underneath my skin nor in my soul. I recently sold my home. A home that afforded me security and wonderful memories. I bought a house for which I absolutely regret. I dislike it immensely and wish not to move in at all. Finances see me with no other choice but to move in and wait to sell. Packing has been a nightmare. Everything appears to be going wrong and I can't catch a break. Whatever I have been holding inside all these years, as finally reared its ugly head and hit me with both barrels. I am defeated, lost, regrets fill my waking hours and I dislike myself for being so stupid. I have tears down my cheeks and regret in my heart as I type. I feel miserable and oh so lonely. Hitting a brick wall at such a high velocity of hurt and anxiety, has, I believe, finally broken me. My patience, endurance and willing myself to be strong, are no more. I churn with emotion inside and shake on the outside. I cry at a blink of an eye. I fight to redirect my future for the better, only to receive the slap of defeat and once again feel the pain of remorse. I've tried booking professional help, but most are booked out weeks in advance. I am climbing walls, snapping at others, impatient and turning into Mr. Hyde. I feel so disjointed and even when I do mingle, I get no pleasure as I feel inadequate amongst others. I've tried walks, self-help, long drives etc., to no avail. Prayer, reading, music, everything is only a stop gap. I am a yo-yo of emotions. Tonight, I have energy to run a marathon, yet my very being is despondent. I don't like going to the Doctors and even then, they're always fully booked for a week or so. How does one turn these palpable, tangible, consuming and overwhelming feelings around?

Speechless Independence hijacked by my parents
  • replies: 1

Im an an adult, im nearly 41. i lived with my parents most of my life due to social phobia and agoraphobia and anxiety.i never really got support when i was a young adult for those things and in fact had traumas that made them worse. But despite thos... View more

Im an an adult, im nearly 41. i lived with my parents most of my life due to social phobia and agoraphobia and anxiety.i never really got support when i was a young adult for those things and in fact had traumas that made them worse. But despite those things, Ive still been independent even living with my parents. My parents are in their early 70s and ive been caring for my mum for a long time, shes able but was born with limited hearing and cant drive and ive always been the one to help her things. My dad I have alot of passive aggressiveness towards him. He is dominating in the family and always has ultimatums and hypocrisy. At the start of this year his car burst in flames and was written off. It was a new car he didnt insure. Since then, financially unable to get a car hes been relying on me and my car to take him to his bowls and everywhere else.I also take mum everywhere too. I got burnt out of constant driving everyone with little of my own time and energy to basically have my own life. Ive been depressed and feelings of hopelessness and exhaustion.And that was b4 dad pronounced he was selling where we live as he wants to invest money and that we have 3 months to find a new place so he can invest in the shares he wants. So that happened and its been like hell. But prior to all that, a year earlier I had no car but my dad had a car. Basically, I didnt go anywhere at all for a year pretty much because Dad would complain about petrol and he was always off at bowls. I had to use his car only once a week to take mum out shopping and her social outing and that was when i shopped and that was it. I saved so hard a whole year for my car ( im on dsp). I pay bills at home, so i was just living bare bones until i finally got my dream car id been saving for. And fast forward now, and its the family car now. All the milage and petrol all paid by me and used 90 percent by my parents. And now dad says when we move, hes not going to get a car, hes going to get an electric bike instead . Hes in his early 70s and thinks he can drive to bowls and back.But again, that means my car will be the family car and everytime i want to go in my car i get my parents sitting in there and i have to take them places. I literally dont get a chance to be independent even when i have done all I can. And no, moving from them is not an option for so many reasons. i feel completely stepped on by my parents.

Sunflower23 September blues
  • replies: 2

Coming into september I have been feeling low about my upcoming birthday, along with uni assignment stress and trying to balance other personal stressors. I feel like I have been in 'survival mode' for so long. Some days when I don't have a commitmen... View more

Coming into september I have been feeling low about my upcoming birthday, along with uni assignment stress and trying to balance other personal stressors. I feel like I have been in 'survival mode' for so long. Some days when I don't have a commitment, its hard to get out of bed and get motivated to work on my assignments. The other day I saw someone from the past which triggered some pain and loss emotions, unexpectedly. At this stage, I'm trying to take each day at a time and I'm hoping that these feelings will pass and that joy is around the corner.

Guest_1282 Losing interest
  • replies: 1

I feel like this is one about losing interest, given Ive just watched the last quarter of a classic AFL final- GWS vs St Kilda. Anyway I thought it was a great game but just feel like interest in the footy. Which as a local sport that i've always fou... View more

I feel like this is one about losing interest, given Ive just watched the last quarter of a classic AFL final- GWS vs St Kilda. Anyway I thought it was a great game but just feel like interest in the footy. Which as a local sport that i've always found respect and appreciation for here in Aus- even since last playing in 2008, which is 15 years ago. Anyway given that just seems to be at the biggest low for me since maybe like 2016/2017 the interest in it. And to be honest it covers all areas of my life and Im starting to get worried, dont know if I can push forward with this trying to keep interest in things for much longer. Just doesnt seem to be there and I dont seem to be enjoying things as much. However hard i try like no matter how nerdy/jock like in terms of being sports based- could be gaming, sports, music or anything eihter end of the interests. Or anything somewhere sort of in the middle but they are just few and far between. Anyway felt like this was appropriate to put in the depression category, medium I guess you'd call it of the forums, as it is about losing interest in things. That found interest in not only like just for last year, last season or the last couple of years for sport. But probably as recent as like from earlier this year, anyway just couldnt let that one slide

Oldbrew13 What's the point?
  • replies: 8

Hi everyone. I just wanted to share some feelings & thoughts that have me trapped in a dark mood at the moment. Brief background: I'm in my 50s. My husband of 20 years left me out of the blue a few years ago for a girl half his age. I'm with someone ... View more

Hi everyone. I just wanted to share some feelings & thoughts that have me trapped in a dark mood at the moment. Brief background: I'm in my 50s. My husband of 20 years left me out of the blue a few years ago for a girl half his age. I'm with someone else now who is wonderful. But I'm not happy. I feel like I've been cheated of life. The 20 years were not happy ones and now I am struggling to rebuild. I feel like there's no purpose in life. I just go to work, come home, sleep, rinse & repeat. My partner is retired and we don't have money to travel or have a social life. He doesn't understand why I'm not happy without those things and thinks I'm putting too much emphasis on money. But then my ex has everything - he's living it up, travelling, socialising, enjoying life. I walked away with nothing (not by choice) and I feel cheated. I devoted my life to raising children and running a house while working full-time and now I feel like it was all for nothing. Where's my reward for going without and giving so much of myself to everyone else? Why am I being punished when I did nothing wrong? It all seems so pointless and I feel like I'm just existing until it's time to die. Anyway thanks for listening to me vent. Hope you're all doing ok today

G_S My first post. Depression
  • replies: 20

I wanted to try this. I’m seeing a psychologist atm but that’s only every 3 weeks or so. I feel awful a lot of the time and just really want to share that with others because I have to put on a brave face all the time. Only a couple of people know I ... View more

I wanted to try this. I’m seeing a psychologist atm but that’s only every 3 weeks or so. I feel awful a lot of the time and just really want to share that with others because I have to put on a brave face all the time. Only a couple of people know I struggle with depression sometimes and poor emotional regulation, and I don’t want to overload them with how negative I feel all the time. They are really supportive and I do share with them but it’s not fair on them if I’m always negative. Giving this forum a try…

SadHumanwithaCat I can't cope with it
  • replies: 3

Hi. Depression and anxiety has ruled my life for over a decade, but I still can't control my emotions enough to live a normal life. I quit my job, I can't make myself do my assessments for my studies. I just can't push through. Everyone thinks I'm la... View more

Hi. Depression and anxiety has ruled my life for over a decade, but I still can't control my emotions enough to live a normal life. I quit my job, I can't make myself do my assessments for my studies. I just can't push through. Everyone thinks I'm lazy but I feel so overwhelmed. Any advice would be great.

Living57 Depression and long covid
  • replies: 3

I'm fed up with trying. I got covid in March and have not gotten over it. My doctor has done blood work, ECG, Xray of heart and lungs, CT scan of heart. Im still coughing, so exhausted and doing the simplest things tires me. It was noticed on the xra... View more

I'm fed up with trying. I got covid in March and have not gotten over it. My doctor has done blood work, ECG, Xray of heart and lungs, CT scan of heart. Im still coughing, so exhausted and doing the simplest things tires me. It was noticed on the xray that I have fluid on my lungs and heart, so she followed it with the CT scan. My heart beat drops as low as 39 and up to 143bpm. She rang the cardio and he squeezed me in quickly. He did tests and has said it has been caused by covid. I had chest xrays earlier in the year and there was nothing wrong. He wants to do more tests to make sure he's missing nothing before he discusses problems and treatments. He did state i have Long Covid and has referred me to the clinic.Well since then I have spiralled into a black place with my depression and my anxiety has peaked to an all time high.I'm struggling every day with over thinking and imagining the worse, I get anxious when I feel my heart pounding, and the anxiety builds up, depression gets me down lower and lower. I put on my 'all is good with my world' face for family and friends, thats becoming automatic for me but once they've gone or I've left, I'm a blubbering mess. It doesn't help when I have friends on both sides of the vaccination debate, who are also armchair experts on what I should or shouldn't do.I feel like I want to lock myself away from everyone and the world and just curl up in a ball. I guess I just needed somewhere to vent, sorry

Guest_1282 Feeling like giving into impulses and just give up on getting better
  • replies: 5

Fighting an uphill battle here folks, just feel like will never get better. Just absolutely futile and hopeless, feel like will never get anywhere. And feel like things are hopeless, anyway just gone. Can't keep trying to feel better, nothing is ever... View more

Fighting an uphill battle here folks, just feel like will never get better. Just absolutely futile and hopeless, feel like will never get anywhere. And feel like things are hopeless, anyway just gone. Can't keep trying to feel better, nothing is ever good enough. Just cynical fools out there who don't care

mjs123 Fristrated
  • replies: 4

I am having issues coping with my workload. I am getting angry very quickly as I am sick of having to revisit issues at work due to internal issues. I have stopped listening to music in the car and I dislike music playing in places like McDonalds tha... View more

I am having issues coping with my workload. I am getting angry very quickly as I am sick of having to revisit issues at work due to internal issues. I have stopped listening to music in the car and I dislike music playing in places like McDonalds that did not use to frustrate me. I’m loosing interest in my work. I have a good relationship with my wife and family. I think I may just need a break away from work or do these signs mean something more?